


Episode 8: Fire And Rain

by HuntersWearingPlaid



Category: Supernatural, Wayward Sisters (TV)
Genre: Episode: s13e10 Wayward Sisters, F/F, Gen, Wayward Daughters, the wayward project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 13:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15842169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuntersWearingPlaid/pseuds/HuntersWearingPlaid
Summary: After getting their food, Alex decided to say goodbye to Claire halfway to their house, saying that she had a set of spare clothes at the hospital. Claire smiled lightly to bid Alex goodbye, sighing to herself as she began walking back home, slowly taking her time with each step.After a few steps Claire noticed that her shoelace had come undone again. Groaning to herself, she bent down, resting her weight on one knee, to tie them back again.That was the last thing she remembered.





	Episode 8: Fire And Rain

“Please, please, please! When have I ever asked you to come with me?” Claire bounced on her heels, annoying Patience more and more by the minute.

“When have you ever gone at all?” Patience asked, turning to face Claire.

“Does that matter?” Claire asked, “It’s just for a few hours! Besides, we do need some time to do something other than hunting. I might just start seeing things, otherwise.” She sat down at the table across Patience, mumbling the last part of her sentence. Her eyes had turned to the floor.

“I’m not going to come, Claire.” Patience finally snapped, looking at Claire with eyes that could kill.

“You could use the distraction, Patience…” Claire mumbled. She didn't want to go there…

“Distraction from what?” Patience asked slowly, pretending to be oblivious to what Claire was talking about.

“From your father…” Claire said. “You know,” she shrugged as she trailed off, trying to pick at the obnoxious pattern that Alex had doodled onto the table with a pen. She was about to begin saying something to defend herself, but stopped short when she heard footsteps approaching the living area.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, entering the room. She took a look at Claire’s expression and realised what was happening. “Claire, don’t tell me you’re still on her back.”

“Alex, why don’t  _you_ go with her?” Patience asked defiantly.

“I said no before you did. She’s been tooting that horn for a week now. Drop it, Claire.” Alex said just as Jody entered the room.

“What are you guys talking about?” Jody asked, oblivious to what was going on.

“Claire wants to take us to see a play, but we don’t want to go.” Patience said.

“Since when did you become interested in plays?” Jody asked, her face holding a look of confusion. She crossed her arms across her chest, leaning on the wall, still dressed in Sheriff gear.

“Since now,” Claire scoffed, “None of them will go with me.” She complained.

Jody took a step towards the three, “I’ll come.”

“What? You will?” Claire asked.

Patience and Alex also turned their heads towards Jody. Jody didn't seem like the type to sit down for three hours and watch  _a play._  And knowing Claire and Jody, Claire was most definitely going to take her to see a play that Jody wouldn’t like.

“Yeah!” Jody exclaimed. “Besides, I could use the break. You all could.” She walked around the table, putting her hand on Claire’s shoulder. “I’ll even ask Donna and see if she’s interested.”

* * *

 “So what’s it called again?” Donna whispered across Jody, earning a sigh from her.

Claire seemed distracted. “It’s called ‘Steel Magnolias.’”

“What’s it about?” She asked again.

“Donna, it’s about to begin! You’ll find out within a minute.” Jody said loudly. The woman behind her shushed her, making Jody wince. “Sorry!” She whispered loudly.

The lights dimmed, the curtains drew apart. But for the life of Claire, she couldn’t seem to focus on anything that was happening. Her eyes kept flitting to the doors, because she could’ve sworn she had seen Kaia. Again.

She had almost fully convinced herself that she was definitely seeing things. But when she saw Kaia…

She looked real. She looked like she was standing there, and people were walking around her.

Claire had her entire body turned towards the doors, the play having slipped out of her mind before it had even begun.

Donna noticed, trying to snap her attention back to present. “Whatcha looking at, girlie? Don’t wanna watch?” She asked, putting her hand over Claire’s resting arm.

“Yeah, I do,” Claire trailed off, still scanning the entrance, as if Kaia was just going to magically appear there any moment. Donna hadn’t even heard Claire.

“Need a bathroom break?” Donna asked, nudging Claire.

Claire thought about it for a moment, before nodding and getting up from her seat. She wasn’t getting through fast enough, she thought. Going over everyone else’s feet was a little frustrating, and she couldn’t really focus on it. She tripped twice, almost falling over once.

Once she had made it free, she walked all the way down the aisle right up to the entrance, spinning in a circle, trying to spot the mop of bushy hair that Kaia sported.

Tears had formed in her eyes. She _really_ thought she’d seen Kaia. Claire was going crazy.

She did make a quick trip to the bathroom. She washed her face, trying to get her breathing back to normal.

Claire was back in her seat within a minute, but it didn't matter where she was, because all she could do was think about Kaia.

* * *

The fact that Claire couldn’t even focus on watching _Breaking Bad_ the next night confirmed it.

She had lost her mind.

She had been staring blankly at her laptop screen for thirty minutes now, her eyes drying up from keeping them open for too long, again and again. She finally huffed, giving up and pausing the episode.

She rolled over onto her back from laying on her side, staring up at the sad fan that kept spinning at snail’s pace. The little creak it made as it spun was setting her off. It seemed like everything seemed to be irritating her. She had almost put a bullet through her alarm clock this morning after its incessant ringing.

Suddenly, there seemed to be an added noise into the room.

It was coming from the door. Someone was knocking on it.

“Claire?” Said Alex’s muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Claire shot the door a sideways look before continuing her stare-fest.

“Claire-bear?” Alex tried once again. She knew Claire _hated_ it when she called her that.

It seemed to work though. Claire groaned softly, letting out a ‘yeah’ to tell Alex to come in.

Alex swung to door open, staying at her spot when she saw what Claire was doing. “You look terrible.”

“Thanks, Alex. You’re so sweet.” Claire sassed, shooting her a sarcastic smile.

“Shut up.” Alex sat down on the floor, her back resting on the bed. Her head was next to Claire’s.

Claire rolled her eyes at how Alex was sitting. “Are you here to have a heart to heart? Let me go grab the ice cream.”

Alex turned her head towards Claire. “You remember how you had asked me why you didn’t have any friends except me? And Patience?” She asked. “It’s because you’re so sarcastic. It’s a wonder you hadn’t figured it out by now.”

Claire smacked Alex upside the head, pulling an ‘ow!’ from her. “What do you want, Alex?”

“How’d the play go?”

Aaaand she was back to thinking about Kaia. For the few minutes that she was being sarcastic towards Alex, she had successfully managed to not think about the girl. Now Alex had gone and mentioned the play.

Claire stared up at the fan again. “It was good.” She mumbled.

“I read up about the play once Jody told me which one it was,” Alex told her. “I found the ending quite… silly.” She mused. “Did you like it? You didn’t, did you? Because if you did, I’m going to be surprised.”

“It was okay,” Claire mumbled again as an automatic response. She had not an idea what had happened at the end of the play.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. 

After a few moments, Alex sighed. “You don’t remember what happened, do you?”

It was only then that Claire actually focused on what Alex had said. “What?”

“You don’t remember the play. Did you fall asleep or something?” Alex asked again, scoffing this time.

Claire blinked a few times before responding. “Yeah, yeah. I fell asleep. Jody and Donna had a good time, definitely.”

“Oh, well. Good for them.” Alex said. “You know, I still don’t get why you were harping on and on about going and seeing that play. You don’t even like plays.” She turned her body to face Claire, putting her hands in her lap. “And you love hunting. When have you ever said no to a good hunt?”

Claire sighed. She needed to tell someone about the things that had her up at night for a while now. But she wasn’t sure she could do it. “I don’t know. Everybody needs their downtime, I guess. And after what happened with Patience and her dad, I just figured she might need it too.”

“Y’know, Claire, we’ve lived together for a few years. In fact, I’d even go as far as calling us best friends.” Alex said a little suddenly, adding the last part in teasingly. “So, I know when you’re lying.”

Claire didn't respond to that. She knew Alex knew when she was lying. She knew when anyone was lying - she was good at reading people (Claire was not going to admit that they were best friends).

“And right now,” Alex went on, “you are.” She stood up, walking over to the door. “You don’t have to tell me why you’ve been acting strange, but if you do, I won’t judge. We specialise in strange, remember?” She winked, putting her hand on the doorknob.

Claire made her next decision within a span of seconds. “I’ve been seeing things.” She confessed.

Alex turned around. “What?”

Claire sat up, her eyes darting all around the room, not once landing on Alex. “I’ve been seeing things.” She repeated.

Alex took slow steps towards Claire, sitting down on the bed a good distance away from Claire. “What do you mean, you’ve been seeing things?” She laughed a little. “Do you think you need a doctor or something?” She didn't know how to react to what Claire had just told her.

“No!” Claire almost shouted, snapping her head towards Alex. “I don’t need a doctor, Alex. I’m not crazy.” She folded her legs, all while saying, “Well, maybe I _am_ going crazy.”

An awkward silence filled the room for two seconds. Neither Claire nor Alex had any idea of what to say next.

Alex tried. “If you ever need to talk…” She trailed off. She let Claire’s confession mull in her head for a few seconds, and then said, “No, you know what? You need to talk about this.” She turned her body towards Claire’s. “If not to me, then talk to Jody. Or Donna. This isn’t normal.”

Claire scoffed. “You know what’s even more crazy?” After a hesitant ‘yeah’ from Alex, she went on. “It’s _who_ I’m seeing everywhere.”

“Do I want to know?” 

Claire sighed. Her heart was beating faster than normal. “Kaia.” She mumbled in a low voice.

“What?”

“I’m seeing Kaia everywhere.” Claire said again, louder this time.

Alex’s immediate reaction was to laugh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. Um…” She put her hand to the back of her neck. “You’ve been seeing Kaia everywhere. The one who died in The Bad Place?”

“How many Kaias do we know, Alex?”

“Shut up.”

Claire sighed yet again. “Yeah. Kaia. The one who died in The Bad Place.” She didn't want to have to say it. “Everywhere. Outside our window, at the Gas n’ Sip. I even saw her at the play.”

Alex stayed quiet for a few seconds. “You’re trying to distract yourself.” She said slowly.

“Yeah.” Claire tried to laugh.

“What are you going to do?” Alex asked.

“Nothing.” Claire pulled on a stray thread coming out of her pajamas. “I just think, sometimes…”

Alex didn't say anything, just letting Claire take some time to find her words. 

“I just feel like…” Claire trailed off again. “What if she’s not dead?” She had finally said it. She had finally said what had been swimming around in her mind for the past two weeks. She thought it would sound ridiculous when she would finally say it out loud, but no. It still sounded just as possible to her.

Well, it didn't seem that way to Alex, because her immediate response was to scoff. “What?” She asked, still smiling. “I mean, no offense to you seeing her. None at all.” She pushed herself a little away from Claire, taking the pillow beside her into her lap. “But _you’re_ the one who told us she died. You’re the one who came back alone from the rift and told us she got shot.”

“Yeah, but what if she didn't die?” Claire argued.

“She got _shot in the stomach,_ Claire!” Alex argued back. “Even if she did live - not possible, but say she did - how do you think she got back into our world?”

Alex thought Claire was _really_ going crazy. And she knew her stubborn best friend will not listen to anything she says if Claire has got her mind set on it.

“ _She’s a dreamwalker, Alex!”_ Claire was on the verge of shouting now. “She was the one who opened that rift!”

Alex breathed out sharply. “Wasn’t she bleeding? Didn't she have a freaking _hole_ in her stomach?”

Claire had nothing to say about that. She knew that it would have been difficult for Kaia to dreamwalk back into this world in the condition she was in. But she was trying to keep her head. She breathed in and out deeply for a few moments, finally saying, “I just don’t think she’s dead.”

Alex sighed too. “I don’t understand-“

“Not dead. As in alive. Breathing. Still out there.”

“Let me finish,” Alex snapped. “I don’t understand how _you_ would give into such whims. Fall for these… hallucinations.”

Claire was on the verge of crying. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, no words coming out. “There was something there,” She finally breathed out.

“Yeah, Claire?” Alex asked, moving closer to Claire.

“I felt something. With Kaia.” Claire felt a tear streak down her cheek. She didn’t bother wiping it away. “I miss her, Alex.”

Alex wrapped her arms around Claire, and she let her cry.

* * *

 

Alex and Claire’s conversation from the night before had left Claire feeling just the way she had felt right after Kaia had died. She hadn’t gone outside her room for breakfast. She hadn’t let Jody in when she had knocked. 

She was trying to feel okay. She was trying really hard, but she just couldn’t.

Her phone pinged for the fiftieth time that day. Claire knew her family wouldn’t leave it alone, so she decided to read the text.

It was from Alex:

_“Wanna pick up dinner for everyone? Fresh air will do you good :)”_

 

Claire thought Alex was stupid to think that if she hadn’t even stepped out of the room the entire day, she was going to get out of _the house_.

But this was Alex. That made her feel a little better. So she changed into what Alex had dubbed 'Biker Barbie' clothes, and walked out of the room with the shoelaces on her sneakers undone.

She saw Donna talking to Patience about something very passionately. She tried to pass them as nonchalantly as she could. As she passed, she heard Donna saying, “There’s so many ways of eating it! I suggest Tater Tots.”

Claire wasn’t sure if Donna and Patience hadn’t found any strange with Claire walking out of her room and straight towards the door. If they did, they didn't say anything about it. Claire breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out of the house.

Alex was leaning against the wall next to the door. She pushed herself off after seeing Claire. “Car’s out for service, I hope you don’t mind walking.”

Claire smiled at her, not wanting to say anything. Alex said nothing either, simply falling into step next to Claire as the pair began walking.

“Donna has been going on about Hotdish since morning and Patience’s never eaten any. So I thought we could have that for dinner. Jody’s on duty, she should be back in an hour.” Alex didn't wait for Claire to react to any of her statements. “I do have a late night shift at the hospital. There is something Dr Morris wanted to show me, so she’s called me in. I could drop you back before I head there, though. Could you tie your shoelaces, please?”

Claire kept her mouth as she bent down to tie her shoelaces. She hated tying them, they kept coming out every twenty minutes. Once she stood up, she mumbled, “I can walk back, you don’t have to come.”

“Okay,” Alex drawled out.

After walking beside each other in silence for a while, Alex decided to fill it. She talked to Claire about random things all the way to the food truck they were headed to. Claire didn't have to say anything back to Alex, which she felt good about, because she wasn’t really sure she wanted to.

After getting their food, Alex decided to say goodbye to Claire halfway to their house, saying that she had a set of spare clothes at the hospital. Claire smiled lightly to bid Alex goodbye, sighing to herself as she began walking back home, slowly taking her time with each step.

After a few steps Claire noticed that her shoelace had come undone again. Groaning to herself, she bent down, resting her weight on one knee, to tie them back again.

That was the last thing she remembered.

* * *

 When Claire’s eyes flitted open again, she was not ready to take in what she was seeing in front of her then.

The girl she had been seeing. The girl who had made her head go round in circles. The girl she had been missing so badly. Kaia. In the flesh.

But that smile. That smile, it didn't belong to Kaia. This one looked malicious. Like she knew something. Like she was going to _do_ something.

“Kaia?” Claire choked out. She wanted to get up. She wanted to take two steps towards Kaia and two steps back at the same time. She tried.

But she couldn’t. One of her legs and one of her hands were tied up to a post a few steps away from her, sending Claire stumbling to the ground when she tried to get up. She wriggled her wrist in the binding it was tied with, confused. “What is this?” She asked, her breathing becoming shallower and faster.

“Hi, Claire.” Kaia smiled wider, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Kaia, I…” Claire trailed off. She was struggling with her words.

Kaia was _in front of her,_ like she had known, the entire time. But this was not how she pictured meeting her again. Claire wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and kick and cry till things went back to how they were before all this… Before she met Kaia.

“It’s good to… Is it good to see you?” Kaia mused.

Claire was getting more and more confused by the minute. She was _sure_ this was not the Kaia she had gotten to know in the little time that they had shared. It seemed almost as if she was possessed. So she tried her hand with that. “Who are you?” She asked, trying to bring in an authoritative tone to her voice, failing miserably in the process.

“Ah, Kaia Nieves.” Kaia said. She began to pace around Claire. “I’m just not _your_ Kaia.” Kaia smirked after she said that. “Not that the other one was ever _yours,_ anyway.” She stopped, taking a moment to look at Claire’s face.

Claire felt horrible. She felt like someone had put a bullet through her stomach. All for a girl she had known for less than two days. She swallowed hard, the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

“Aw, are you going to cry?” Kaia asked.

Claire tried hard not to just so that she wouldn’t give Kaia the satisfaction. But it seemed like an impossible task. She swallowed hard again, trying to think of something snarky to say to Kaia. Nothing came to her. “Who are you?” She asked again.

Kaia smirked. “You know the Bad Place? The one where I killed your dearest Kaia? I’m from there.” She bent down to get a better look at Claire’s unhappy face. “I’m Kaia from the Bad Place."

Claire felt something strange swirling and coiling in her stomach. Not anything good. She felt like she was going to throw up. Kaia. The one from the Bad Place was standing right in front of her. She didn't know what to do. What to say. She was _really_ confused.

“No matter how different me and your Kaia are,” Kaia went on, “We’re still linked. Our souls are still connected. So when I killed that girl, her soul got trapped in my body.” She spat out that last sentence in disgust. “So she’s not even in heaven!” Kaia laughed. “She’s still struggling. Trapped.”

Claire was at a loss for words. Kaia was simply standing in front of Claire, smug as ever. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and it looked like she was awaiting a response from the tied up hunter.

Claire tried to let the hunter in her take over for a few minutes so she could think rationally, which, of course, resulted in snark. She was still breathing hard and her heart was still beating a mile a minute. “You made a stupid mistake, _Kaia._ ” She snapped. “Tying up only one hand and leg. I wouldn’t have thought a dreamwalker as smart as yourself would have made such a rookie mistake.”

Kaia smirked again. Claire wanted to punch that smirk off her face. She bent down all the way, her face right in front of Claire’s. “I have no intention of keeping you here. I just wanted to tell you to back off. Otherwise,” She began to inch closer to Claire’s face. “I will kill _everybody_ around you. Do you understand, Claire?”

Claire and Kaia were now sharing breathing space. Claire managed a whisper, “Why won’t you just kill me?”

Kaia raised one eyebrow and smiled at Claire once again. And just for one fleeting moment, Claire saw the Kaia she had known. _Her_ Kaia.

Kaia stood up abruptly, walked all the way to the other side of the barn-like structure she had Claire hostage in, and reaching behind a fallen shelf of sorts, she pulled out a large spear. She walked all the way back to Claire, placing the spear right next to her wrist.

Claire felt like her heart was going to fall out of her body. She was _so sure_ that Kaia was going to kill her. She was anticipating a slow death. She was going to kick herself in the afterlife for reminding Kaia that she could simply kill her.

But to her surprise, Kaia moved the sharp edge of the spear sideways instead of forwad, easily slicing the rope that was holding Claire’s wrist.

Kaia was setting Claire free.

One more sharp flick of the spear near her ankle, and Claire was free.

Kaia harshly grabbed Claire’s arms and got her off the ground.

And before Claire could process anything happening to her, Kaia had left the scene, leaving Claire alone in that barn in the middle of nowhere.

What had just happened?

 

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a part of The Wayward Project, a fanfic season of Wayward Sisters. Check out the rest in our collection, or visit @thewaywardproject on tumblr.


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